Monday Morning Impact – October 2

Cisco Bolsters Security Strategy with Splunk Acquisition

Cisco and Splunk have announced an agreement under which Cisco acquires Splunk for $157 per share in cash, representing approximately $28 billion in equity value.

Based in San Francisco, Splunk’s security capabilities are expected to complement Cisco’s existing portfolio, particularly in the areas of AI security and observability across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

“Our combined capabilities will drive the next generation of AI-enabled security and observability,” said Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco. “From threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention, we will help make organizations of all sizes more secure and resilient.”

“Uniting with Cisco represents the next phase of Splunk’s growth journey, accelerating our mission to help organizations worldwide become more resilient, while delivering immediate and compelling value to our shareholders,” said Gary Steele, president and CEO of Splunk. “Together, we will form a global security and observability leader that harnesses the power of data and AI to deliver excellent customer outcomes and transform the industry.”

The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Cisco and Splunk. It is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of calendar year 2024, subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions including approval by Splunk shareholders. Upon close of the acquisition, Splunk President and CEO Gary Steele will join Cisco’s Executive Leadership Team reporting to Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins.

Channel Impact^®
The combination of Cisco and Splunk will likely help move organizations from threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention.

C1 Appoints Industry Leader John DeLozier as Chief Revenue Officer

ConvergeOne (C1), a Bloomington, Minnesota-based customer experience company, today announced that John “JD” DeLozier has joined as Chief Revenue Officer. Reporting directly to CEO Jeffrey Russell, DeLozier will be responsible for driving and maximizing revenue growth across C1’s portfolio of Customer Experience, Security and Networking solutions and leading the C1 sales organization.

DeLozier, who was most recently President of Intelisys, a northern California-based technology services distributor, is a proven industry leader with more than 25 years of experience driving customer expansion strategies at Intelisys, 8×8, CenturyLink, Unify and others, resulting in double-digit, year-over-year growth. His depth of expertise in the sector and world-class, go-to-market execution capabilities as well as his experience building high-growth sales teams will bolster C1’s position as an industry leader as it embarks on its next phase of growth.

“John’s reputation as a highly respected, people-first leader will support C1’s commitment to unlock our customers’ growth by delivering elevated customer and human experiences,” said Jeffrey Russell, CEO of C1. “We have significant, exciting opportunities in the market, and with JD at the helm of our sales team, we are better positioned than ever to scale our products and solutions and deepen our customer relationships with transformative technologies.”

D. Martin, C1 President of Sales, is retiring after a successful career in the technology industry, with the last three years at C1. Martin will continue to lead the sales team through the third quarter to ensure a smooth transition.

“This is an exciting and important moment to join C1 and lead its sales organization,” DeLozier said. “I believe in the team and its vision of elevating customer and team experiences while removing boundaries to create deeper and more secure, scalable and human connections. I look forward to working with the sales team and the entire C1 organization and its partners to maximize our potential as a builder of value and enabler of growth for our customers and their customers.”

Channel Impact^®
DeLozier is a familiar face in the IT channel, and is well positioned to serve as replacement for D. Martin, another prominent industry veteran.

CrowdStrike Introduces Partner Program

CrowdStrike has rolled out “Accelerate,” a new partner program designed to support its Falcon AI-native platform that leverages real-time indicators of attack to deliver detections, automated protection and remediation, and prioritized observability of vulnerabilities.

The new channel program is designed to accommodate the needs of VARs, MSPs, MSSPs, GSIs, SIs, cloud marketplaces, distributors, telcos, OEMs, insurers, incident responders, and ISVs.

“Cybersecurity is at an inflection point, and the partner ecosystem is no different,” said Daniel Bernard, chief business officer at CrowdStrike. “New education formats, new sales tools and new rewards are just a few of the investments we’re making to set the cybersecurity ecosystem standard.”

Program features include “CrowdClass,” an education series featuring CrowdStrike experts in sub-10-minute video formats. In addition, new infrastructure and operational enhancements are intended to make it easier and faster for partners to create demand, register opportunities, run value-based sales campaigns and close deals. The program also introduces a self-service marketing campaign platform providing landing pages, emails and social posts that help partners can use in their business development strategies. Also, individual sales and solution engineering professionals earn cashback rewards on a branded CrowdStrike debit card. Discount tiers and back-end rebates are also included in the new program.

Channel Impact^®
The company seeks to use solution-specific go-to-market tracks, new-age “edutainment,” gamified rewards, as well as a host of sales, marketing, and partner support tools to gain favor with the channel and increase partner success.